1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a liquid containment device and more particularly to a method and apparatus for containment and/or controlling the flow of hazardous liquid spills.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Whenever leakage or other spilling of hazardous liquids such as acid or gasoline occurs, one of the major concerns is the containment and/or controlling the flow of the spilled liquid to minimize the production of the toxic and/or flammable vapors and prevent its flowing into undesirable previously uncontaminated areas. As is well known, as a spill of hazardous liquid spreads out, its surface area increases and the production of toxic and/or flammable vapors increases with the surface area. Therefore, containment of hazardous liquid spills should be rapidly accomplished to minimize spreading of the hazardous liquid and to provide efficient usage of the foam which is commonly used for preventing the production of dangerous fumes. Further, whenever a hazardous liquid, such as gasoline, is spilled in the streets, the spilled liquid must be kept from flowing into a storm drain system where the vapors can rapidly spread far beyond the control of the trained personnel whose job it is to control and clean-up the spill.
The fire departments of most municipalities have a team, or teams, of highly trained people, usually referred to as a hazardous material handling team or "haz-mat" for short, which is highly mobile for responding to calls concerning any emergency situation involving hazardous materials such as the above mentioned spillage of hazardous liquids. In that such teams are highly mobile, as are all fire fighting personnel and equipment, it is difficult if not impossible for them to transport traditional spill containment materials such as sand, with them. Therefore, it is a common practice for such teams to use whatever they can find in the vicinity of a hazardous liquid spill for making up sand bags or otherwise building dikes for containing and/or controlling the flow of the spilled hazardous liquid.
Such prior art spill containment and flow directing techniques are not without problems in that some spill sites lack a readily available supply of suitable materials and even if they do, collecting and readying such materials for use can be very labor intensive and slow. In extreme cases, fire hoses filled with water have been used as a dike. However, this is a last resort in that fire hoses are expensive and many hazardous liquids will ruin a hose due to chemical action, and a water filled hose is a very poor dike. Therefore, many hazardous liquid spills are not contained at all and when contained, are inadequate from desired safety and subsequent clean-up standpoints.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and useful method and apparatus for containment and/or controlling the flow of hazardous liquid spills which overcomes some of the problems and shortcomings of the prior art.